Eye of Minds – Review by Nico Carbone

The student blog is back and Nico is our first guest of the year! Nico is a great kid – bright, enthusiastic, and quick with a smile. He has chosen a favorite genre of our class’: dystopian fiction. We began our year studying these future worlds, and I love to see his enthusiasm for Dashner’s work.

“An all new, edge-of-your seat adventure from James Dashner, the author of the New York Times bestselling Maze Runner series, The Eye of Minds is the first book in The Mortality Doctrine, a series set in a world of hyper advanced technology, cyberterrorists, and gaming beyond your wildest dreams . . . and your worst nightmares.” – Amazon

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The Eye of Minds is the first book in The Mortality Doctrine Series, James Dashner’s latest dystopian creation. The book is a gripping page turner describing a future world that could be all too possible. It describes a world in which video games are not just a way of passing time, but a way to live a second life! Michael is a teen gamer who spends more time in the VirtNet, than in real life. He is part of the “trifecta to dissect-ya” as coined by one of his teams members. His team consists of 3 elite hackers including himself. When they are recruited by the VNS to stop a cyber terrorist they decide they are up for the challenge. Of course after a few threats and the promise of the ultimate reward. This thrusts Michael into a crazy adventure and this is where Dashner shines. Fast paced action, with his usual subtle clues that lead his protagonists to the right conclusions. After witnessing everything from true death in the VirtNet to simple racing games Michael feels he is ready to find Kaine and take him and his army of kill sims on. But with his true life on the line Michael can’t make mistakes. Kaine is a dangerous man and Michael will have to take desperate measures to defeat him. Some of the action ends quite brutally and Dashner leaves out no details so don’t let children under the age of 10 read this book or they will be very scared. But for anyone over the age of ten it is a five star book from one of this generation’s best authors that will have you clearing your schedule so you can read it in one sitting! This book is very vital to think about because if we become so immersed in video games that we can’t tell the difference between real life and video games then how will we be able when we are in the real world and there will be consequences for crazy actions that are plausible in video games. So all in all The Eye of Minds by James Dashner is a five star book for anyone ages 10 and up and it is a fast paced action novel which still has a pressing ideas attached to it that will leave you contemplated if relying on technology so much will benefit the human race.